My+Name+Is...

=My Name Is...= by Khoa Lam

Purpose
The main goal of this activity is simple - to get participants to remember everyone's name. Participants get a chance to interact with each other, think creatively, and exercise their memory skills.

Time Required
Time required depends on the amount of participants, but the activity is short. A ten-person activity can take as little as ten minutes.

Number of Participants

 * Minimum** - 5.
 * Maximum** - 20. More if you're daring.
 * Optimum** - 10.

Supplies Needed
No supplies needed.

Preparation
No preparation needed.

Introduction

 * Khoa (Facilitator):** "All right everyone. We're going to do an icebreaker activity that will help you remember everyone's name. The first step is to stand in a circle, so let's do that right now... wait no this is an oval... can you guys step back a little? Okay... great."

Process

 * Khoa:** "Here is how you play the game - you must think of a type of food that starts with the same letter as your first name and introduce yourself like this: 'My name is Khoa... and I like kettle corn.' The person standing to the right will introduce everyone who has spoken before, and then they introduce themselves. So... [turning to his right] wait what is your name?"


 * Karl (Participant #1):** "Karl."


 * Khoa:** "So Karl's turn will go like this: This is Khoa and he likes kettle corn. My name is Karl and I like blank. Want to give it a try Karl?"


 * Karl:** "Okay. This is Khoa and he likes kettle corn. My name is Karl and I like... kabobs."


 * Khoa:** "Excellent! Let's keep it going... [to the person standing to the right of Karl] are you ready?"


 * Katie (Participant #2):** "Wow looks like the last person is going to have a blast [group laughter]. Over there is Khoa, he likes kettle corn. This is Karl, he likes kabobs. My name is Katie and I like kiwi. Wow all of us have K names!"


 * Khoa:** "Good point, Katie. So does everyone understand how to play now? Feel free to help the people at the end out!"


 * Game continues until everyone in the circle gets a turn.***

Debrief

 * Khoa:** "That was great. So let's go around the circle one more time to review. My name is..."


 * Group:** "Khoa!"


 * Khoa:** "And I like..."


 * Group:** "Kettle corn!"


 * Khoa:** "This is..."


 * Group:** "Karl!"


 * Khoa:** "And he likes..."


 * Group:** "Kabobs!"


 * Khoa:** "This is..."


 * Group:** "Katie!"


 * Khoa:** "And she likes..."


 * Group:** "Kiwi!"


 * ETC.***

Credits
In my high school Psychology class, the teacher had us write name tags with our name preceded by an adjective that starts with the same first letter as our name - for example, Kleptomaniacal Khoa. I found that the alliteration allowed us to be creative and made it very easy to remember classmate names. I still remember many adjectives today.

I took this alliteration method and made a game out of it for a student business organization at SDSU. We played it at the beginning of every semester with much success and have many inside jokes from it.

Variations of the game are possible - just choose any broad topic such as adjectives, animals etc.